"All the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and . . . the State should be abolished." —Benjamin Tucker

"You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." —James Madison

"Fat chance." —Sheldon Richman

Available Now! (click cover)

America's Counter-Revolution

The Constitution Revisited

From the back cover:

This book challenges the assumption that the Constitution was a landmark in the struggle for liberty. Instead, Sheldon Richman argues, it was the product of a counter-revolution, a setback for the radicalism represented by America’s break with the British empire. Drawing on careful, credible historical scholarship and contemporary political analysis, Richman suggests that this counter-revolution was the work of conservatives who sought a nation of “power, consequence, and grandeur.” America’s Counter-Revolution makes a persuasive case that the Constitution was a victory not for liberty but for the agendas and interests of a militaristic, aristocratic, privilege-seeking ruling class.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

I want to plead guilty, and I’m going to plead guilty 100 times over because until the hour the U.S. pulls its forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, and stops the drone strikes in Somalia and Yemen and in Pakistan, and stops the occupation of Muslim lands, and stops killing the Muslims, and stops reporting the Muslims to its government, we will be attacking U.S., and I plead guilty to that.

--Faisal Shahzad, on pleading guilty to attempting to set off a car bomb in Times Square

Asked by the judge why he would want to kill civilians, Shahzad said: "Well, the people select the government. We consider them all the same"

“Including the children?” the judge asked.

“Well, the drone hits in Afghanistan and Iraq, they don’t see children; they don’t see anybody. They kill women, children. They kill everybody. It’s a war. And in war, they kill people. They’re killing all Muslims.”

Any further questions?

UPDATE July 3, 2010The neocons work overtime to keep Americans from understanding why terrorists do what they do. See Glenn Greenwald's discussion of Charles Krauthammer's latest attempt.

5 comments:

Eric Hanneken
said...

You know, as an individualist, I have an easy response to Faisal Shahzad: You tried to kill the wrong people. No one in Times Square murdered innocent men, women, and children in Pakistan. Two wrongs don't make a right.

But what do the People's Romantics have to say about this? If "we are the government," then aren't we responsible for what we do? What can they say to answer Faisal Shahzad? Only Americans who are old enough to vote are legitimate targets? Only registered voters? What?

You're correct, Erik. And we should never condone harm being done to innocent people of any nationality, for any reason. But, at the very least, it's important for Americans to realize WHY people like Shahzad do the terrible things they do.

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